Anything Besides Work Is a Blood Profit These Days

Watching Chen Hao's departing back, Xu Pengkun smiled, feeling somewhat relieved, though he had no idea what had caused his best friend's change.

But everything was moving in a better direction.

After all, Chen Hao was the only one who could consistently beat him at math, leaving him with no room to argue.

Xu Pengkun was ruthless enough and had some talent, but Chen Hao was the sort who could master things without studying. As long as it interested him, he could delve into it better than anyone—games, math, anything.

But if Chen Hao had no interest in something, even the Heavenly King himself couldn't do a thing about it. Xu Pengkun remembered their first chemistry class in middle school. Chen Hao had been dragged outside to stand as punishment for talking, leaving him with an awful impression of the chemistry teacher. From then on, he had never once passed chemistry, and he had handed in a blank paper for the chemistry section of the college entrance exam's science test.

At heart, Chen Hao was very much like him, yet also somewhat different.

No matter what, brothers for life.

They would do their best to walk the road ahead together!

Before this, Xu Pengkun had been thinking about whether he could establish himself in a big city, then give Chen Hao a hand.

But now, it seemed that would not be necessary.

Thinking about his plans for the future, Xu Pengkun headed toward his grandfather's home.

Mm, food first!

Meanwhile, Chen Hao opened the door and returned home.

"Big son, you're back~ Guess what Mom made today?"

Chen Hao sniffed. "Sweet and sour ribs!"

"That dog nose of yours is sharp." As she spoke, a middle-aged woman in her forties emerged from the kitchen carrying a dish. She was slightly plump, and time had left few marks on her face.

Chen Hao's mother was named Wu Xiuhua. She currently worked for the power grid—oh, it was called the Power Supply Bureau now. She had inherited the tough nature of northeastern women: sharp-tongued but soft-hearted.

"Mom, you're so beautiful. I... missed you!" Looking at his much younger mother, Chen Hao's eyes reddened as he walked over and embraced her emotionally.

"Are you laying the groundwork for next semester's tuition already? Flattery won't work. Get off me, the ribs are about to spill!" Wu Xiuhua looked thoroughly disgusted.

"You brat, don't use this chance to take advantage of my wife." The speaker was Chen Hao's father, Chen Xingguo.

People of his generation had been born only a few years after the country's liberation, during an era of vigorous development and revitalization. That was why people from that generation were often named Jianguo, Jianshe, Hongqi, Shengli, Yuanchao, Dongsheng, and the like.

It was as if giving their children any other names would have been letting down the motherland.

Chen Hao's father, Chen Xingguo, was broad-bodied and tall, with a square face and an imposing air even when he was not angry. He had served as a signalman for several years in his youth, then transferred to a telecommunications company after leaving the military.

After working for two years, he had voluntarily paid for further technical training. He was now the leader of a communications crew. He had previously been responsible for laying telephone lines—putting up wires and installing phones—but with the arrival of the internet era, he had begun leading several apprentices in building networks. In modern terms, he was unquestionably the company's technical guru.

"Dad, you're so handsome. I—"

Seeing Chen Hao try the same trick and rush over, Chen Xingguo repeatedly pointed a finger at him. "Hey, stop right there, brat. Your money's with your mother!"

"You're already this old and still so unreliable. Go wash your hands and serve the food. School starts in a few days, so hurry and order whatever you want to eat. Once you get back to school, the food there won't be anywhere near as good as your mother's cooking!"

"Yes, sir!" Chen Hao immediately obeyed and went to do as he was told.

The tyrant of the household was no joke.

At the dinner table, the family chatted and laughed about everyday matters, filling Chen Hao with private emotion. This was what happiness was supposed to be.

Back when he was middle-aged, he had calculated it. Ever since graduating and starting work, he had only been able to return home during the seven-day Spring Festival holiday each year to reunite with his family. Based on China's average life expectancy of around eighty, the total time they could spend together amounted to only a few short months.

"While one's parents are alive, one should not travel far." Yet if he truly had not gone far, his younger self would have remained unwilling to accept it. He had wanted to make a name for himself in a big city, only to become one of the ordinary migrant workers pushing the city's construction forward.

Whenever he returned from overtime work late at night, exhausted to the bone, he would always wonder what the point of working so hard to make money really was. He could not even earn enough in a month to buy one square meter. Maybe that was the trouble with being poor. It was all fucking money's fault.

"Raise children for old age" had become little more than a slogan for workers drifting through big cities. Sometimes sons really could not compare to daughters when it came to being thoughtful. Because men and women were not equal, Chen Hao saw that in the families of most of his friends and classmates, the wife called the shots, and they visited the wife's Mothers' home more often than their own.

Sometimes, when he wanted to have drinks together, play games, or run a dungeon, he could never gather enough people. Ask them why, and the answer was always that they had to keep their wives company or take care of their kids. Who the fuck was he supposed to complain to about that?

After dinner, Chen Hao took the initiative to clear the dishes and rushed to wash them. Wu Xiuhua said in surprise, "The sun must have risen in the west. Our young master, who still needed help pouring out his foot-washing water in high school, is actually doing housework voluntarily."

"Looks like two years away at school have made him a little more sensible." Chen Xinghua, who was sitting on the sofa drinking tea and watching television, nodded approvingly.

After he finished cleaning up, Chen Hao was called over by Chen Xingguo.

The family sat down on the sofa together. Clearly, there was something they needed to discuss.

"Chen Hao, you're grown up now. You've spent two years away at school and seen some of the world, so you need to start taking part in and understanding some family matters. Some things should be discussed by the whole family."

Mm, so it was finally here?

Chen Hao did not say anything, merely nodded, because he knew his father had more to say.

"Our internet café will have been open for nearly a year in a few days. Back when we opened it, we asked for your opinion too."

Chen Hao remembered that. Following his father's lead, he said, "Internet café business in Ice City was booming back then, so I suggested that our family open one."

Chen Xingguo blew on his tea and said somewhat proudly, "That's right. Based on the environment I was exposed to and your suggestion, our family decided to open an internet café. Computers were too expensive, and we invested quite a lot. Not only did we empty out all our savings, we also borrowed some money. Yet in just one year, we're already about to break even. Your mother and I have both seen how profitable the internet café is. After deducting rent, electricity, labor, computer depreciation, and all those costs, we made this much last year." As he spoke, Chen Xingguo held up two fingers in a V.

"Two hundred thousand?" Chen Hao was stunned. He remembered that his parents' salaries were only a little over one thousand a month at present.

"To be exact, two hundred and twenty thousand! Pure profit, too. I'm thinking we shouldn't rush to repay the debts. We should take this opportunity to expand. Leave the original internet café as it is and open another one farther away. Your mother has already agreed. What do you think?" Wu Xiuhua nodded beside him, while Chen Xingguo looked at Chen Hao with a gleam in his eyes.

His father truly had vision and courage. Although the last few years had seen a wave of layoffs, they had not been affected. They still had solid iron-rice-bowl jobs. It was difficult for ordinary people to step out of their comfort zones, especially for a new industry like internet cafés.

His father was that kind of man. Once he set his sights on something, he went all in. He had pursued Chen Hao's mother that way, and he had opened the internet café the same way. Barely one year later, he was already planning to expand. He was truly a bold man.

But, Dad, sorry!

"I don't think it's a good idea!"